The ISAA Prizes™
Recognizing the individuals whose contributions change how people fight and protect themselves.
The ISAA Prizes™ honor exceptional contributions to arms and armor through invention, discovery, adaptation, and original practical application.
Presented once every three years, the prizes recognize individuals whose work has produced a demonstrated, significant change in individual or small-unit combat or protection. Recognition is open to contributors across professions and nationalities, including those honored posthumously.
John M. Browning Prize in Arms™
Recognizing consequential contributions to small weapons and their employment, including edged weapons, projectile weapons, firearms, and small unmanned strike systems.
Eligible achievements may arise from original design, discovery, adaptation, integration, or a new practical application with independently demonstrated impact.
Stephanie L. Kwolek Prize in Armor™
Recognizing consequential contributions to personal protection, including body armor, helmets, shields, protective materials, and original methods of employing protective equipment.
Eligible achievements must concern protection an individual can wear, carry, or personally deploy and demonstrate a significant effect on protection in individual or small-unit combat.
Announcements
The inaugural ISAA Prizes are in development
ISAA Library is developing the inaugural John M. Browning Prize in Arms and Stephanie L. Kwolek Prize in Armor. The proposed schedule anticipates nominations opening in September 2027, with the first laureates announced in 2028, subject to final approval and program readiness.
Confirmed dates, nomination instructions, selection panel appointments, and program updates will be published here before nominations open.
About the Prizes
The ISAA Prizes extend ISAA Library’s mission of research, preservation, and education by recognizing the people behind significant advances in arms and armor.
A contribution may emerge from a laboratory, workshop, historical investigation, or practical experience. Its significance rests on what the individual contributed, the evidence supporting that contribution, and the change it produced.
Each prize recognizes no more than one achievement per three-year cycle. A shared achievement may honor up to three individual laureates. A category may remain unawarded when no achievement meets the required standard.
Each laureate receives an engraved medal, a signed award certificate, and permanent public recognition describing the achievement. The prizes carry no cash award.
What Does It Take to Receive an ISAA Prize?
An ISAA Prize requires an original contribution, credible independent evidence, and demonstrated significant impact.
A nomination must establish the following:
A clearly identifiable contribution
The nominee must have made a direct, substantial contribution to an invention, discovery, adaptation, integration, or original practical application. The nomination must explain what the individual contributed and how it differs from earlier work.
Inventing the underlying technology is not required. Applying existing technology in an original and consequential way may qualify.
Impact at the individual or small-unit level
The achievement must concern equipment an individual can wear, carry, or personally deploy.
It must have materially changed how individuals or small units attack, defend, move, train, organize, or protect themselves, supported by credible evidence of meaningful adoption, adaptation, or countermeasures by others.
Evidence that withstands independent review
Claims must be supported by evidence appropriate to the achievement: traceable testing, primary records, documented comparisons, independently corroborated adoption, or other reliable sources.
A patent, product launch, commercial success, or personal account alone is insufficient.
Significance within the assessment period
The inaugural prizes will assess qualifying impact demonstrated during the ten years immediately preceding the nomination deadline. Subsequent cycles will assess the preceding three years.
The underlying work may be older, provided its qualifying significant impact is demonstrated within the applicable period. Continued use or an enduring reputation alone does not establish a new qualifying achievement.
Clear attribution and integrity
The evidence must distinguish the nominee’s contribution from the work of collaborators and predecessors. Relevant relationships, funding, and conflicts must be disclosed.
Judges assess originality, evidence, significance, robustness, and contributions to research, education, and public benefit. Meeting minimum requirements permits consideration; it does not guarantee a prize.
Who Can Nominate?
Nominations are sought from qualified people and institutions with relevant expertise, including:
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Established researchers and engineers.
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Practitioners and relevant military educators.
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Historians and museum professionals.
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Professional societies and museums.
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Future ISAA laureates.
A nominator must demonstrate relevant expertise through at least ten years of professional practice or a comparable record of distinguished research.
Qualified people outside the invitation list may request nomination credentials. Employer nominations are permitted when the relationship is disclosed and the achievement is supported by independent evidence.
Self-nominations are not accepted. One qualified nomination is sufficient; additional endorsements do not increase a candidate’s score.
Who Is Eligible to Be Nominated?
The prizes recognize individuals worldwide, living or deceased.
Eligible nominees may include inventors, researchers, engineers, soldiers, practitioners, historians, and other innovators. No particular degree, profession, citizenship, institutional affiliation, membership, or age is required.
A nominee must have made a direct and substantial contribution to the achievement. Seniority, funding, supervision, or patent ownership alone does not establish eligibility.
A shared achievement may recognize up to three individuals. Employers and collaborating institutions may be acknowledged, but organizations are not themselves eligible to become laureates under the founding framework.
Scope and exclusions
Eligible work concerns individual-scale arms or personal protection. Vehicle-mounted systems, vehicle armor, large missile systems, naval drones, and strategic weapons fall outside the program’s scope.
Current ISAA directors, staff, and selection officials are ineligible, as is work conducted by ISAA Library or its affiliated businesses. Selection officials remain ineligible for one full award cycle after their service.
Posthumous nominations follow the same standards of evidence, attribution, significance, and timing as all other nominations.
Reach Out for Nomination Consideration
Do you know someone whose contribution may meet the ISAA Prize standard?
Use the nomination inquiry contact to ask about nominator qualifications, category fit, or the formal submission process.
In your initial inquiry, please include:
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Your name, affiliation, and contact information.
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A brief description of your relevant expertise.
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The proposed nominee’s name and your relationship to them.
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The prize category you believe applies.
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A concise explanation of the contribution, its demonstrated impact, and relevant dates.
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References or links to supporting evidence that may be lawfully shared.
An inquiry is a preliminary request for guidance. It does not constitute a formal nomination or establish eligibility.
Once the nomination period opens, qualified nominators will receive instructions for submitting the complete nomination dossier, including evidence, contributor attribution, disclosures, and living-nominee consent or posthumous documentation.
Please contact ISAA before sending confidential or proprietary material so an appropriate submission method can be arranged.
How Laureates Are Selected
Laureates will be selected through a structured process of specialist review and independent judgment.
Separate Arms and Armor Prize Committees will examine eligibility, assess evidence, and obtain at least two independent external reviews for each shortlisted achievement. The committees will evaluate qualifying nominations and submit reasoned recommendations to the ISAA Prize Council.
The Council will make the final award decisions. ISAA’s Board of Directors will oversee program governance and procedural compliance without ranking nominees or selecting an alternative laureate.
Reviewers must disclose conflicts and withdraw from affected evaluations. Donations, sponsorships, commercial influence, and the number of endorsements confer no selection advantage.
The Nomination and Selection Timeline
The following timetable is proposed for each award cycle. Confirmed dates will be published before nominations open.
Proposed inaugural cycle: nominations beginning September 2027 and prizes presented in 2028, followed by 2031, 2034, and every three years thereafter. These dates remain subject to approval.
Nominations open
September 1, 2027
Published rules and submission instructions become available; qualified nominators submit dossiers.
Nominations close
January 31, 2028, at 23:59 UTC
Complete nominations are due.
Eligibility review
February 2028
Category fit, assessment dates, attribution, consent or posthumous records, and conflicts are checked.
Shortlisting and expert review
March–June 2028
Committees identify shortlisted achievements and obtain independent specialist assessments.
Committee deliberation
July–August 2028
Evidence and scores are considered; committees recommend an achievement or no award.
Final decisions
September 2028
The Prize Council reviews recommendations and makes the award decisions.
Laureates announced
October 2028
ISAA publishes the laureates and the reasons for recognition, or announces that a prize will remain unawarded.
Prize presentation
November–December 2028
Medals and certificates are presented, with educational programming where arranged.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the ISAA Prizes awarded annually?
No. The prizes are presented once every three years.
Must a nominee be an engineer or scientist?
No. Eligibility depends on the individual’s contribution and its demonstrated significance. Practitioners, soldiers, historians, inventors, and other innovators may qualify.
Can someone receive a prize posthumously?
Yes. Death does not diminish a contribution or prevent recognition. The same assessment-period and evidence requirements apply, with no time-since-death limit.
Can I nominate myself?
No. A formal nomination must come from a qualified third party. A nominee may provide factual evidence after a valid nomination has been submitted.
Can I nominate someone if I have not been invited?
Qualified people may request nomination credentials. The same expertise standard applies to invited nominators and those requesting credentials.
Can an employer nominate an employee?
Yes, provided the nominator meets the qualifications, discloses the relationship, and supplies independent evidence supporting the achievement.
Can a company or organization receive a prize?
Under the founding framework, prizes recognize individuals. Organizations and collaborating institutions may receive acknowledgment in the award citation.
Can a prize be shared?
Yes. Up to three individuals may be recognized for one shared achievement, with each person’s contribution clearly identified.
Must the invention or discovery itself be new?
The underlying contribution may predate the assessment period. Its qualifying significant impact must be demonstrated within that period. Continued use alone does not qualify.
Are practical innovations eligible?
Yes. Original adaptations, integrations, and employment methods may qualify when evidence establishes a significant change in individual or small-unit combat or protection.
Is there a nomination fee?
No. Nomination and consideration are free. Nominees are not required to purchase memberships, testing, advertising, tickets, or other services.
Do laureates receive money?
No. Each laureate receives a medal, a signed certificate, and permanent public recognition.
Will both prizes always be awarded?
No. Either category may remain unawarded if no achievement meets the required standard.
Are nominations public?
Nominee identities, deliberations, scores, and external reviewer identities are treated as confidential under the program’s rules. ISAA will publish laureate citations and cycle summaries without identifying unsuccessful nominees.
Does a prize certify a product?
No. A prize recognizes the specific contribution described in its citation. It does not constitute product certification, regulatory approval, or endorsement of every application.
Must a laureate attend the presentation?
No. Attendance and educational presentations are not conditions of receiving a prize. Posthumous presentation may be arranged with a suitable family member, estate representative, or custodian.
Where will official updates appear?
Confirmed nomination dates, adopted rules, selection panel information, and laureate announcements will be published on this page.
Have any additional questions? Contact us!